ENVIRONMENTAL CHALLENGES
AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR SEAKEEPERS

• Global warming has increased air temperature just one degree on average during the last century, but sea surface temperatures in the tropical Northern Hemisphere have risen at 10 times that rate since 1984.


• During 2004 significant traction developed for he idea of the Global Ocean Observing System (GOOS). SeaKeepers works to position its technology and deployment as a component of the system.


• “An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century” was delivered to Congress and the U.S. President in 2004. It is the first comprehensive review of the U.S. ocean policy in 35 years.


• U.S. joins 59 nations in 2005 agreeing to a 10-year implementation of the Global Earth Observing System of Systems (GEOSS), which will encompass GOOS. To remove impediments to data sharing, developing a universal data exchange format is one of the first tasks. SeaKeepers has been involved with industry workshops on standardization such as QARTOD (Quality Assurance of Real Time Ocean Data), but this is just one component of resolving issues about ocean data.


• One of GEOSS’s key aims is to involve developing countries.


• In the executive summary of “An Ocean Blueprint for the 21st Century,” The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy recognizes that one of the “foundations of a new national ocean policy is enhancement of partnerships between the federal government and nongovernmental stakeholders. “We believe The SeaKeepers Society sets a precedent for nongovernmental stakeholders.


• The U.S. Commission on Ocean Policy states that an effective national ocean policy should be based on unbiased, credible, and up-to-date scientific information.


• Six different vendors are now developing sensor modules for the SK 1000. These will monitor such things as nutrients; dissolved organic matter; chlorophyll; heavy metals; arsenic and mercury; and carbon dioxide.


• The story of pH or acidity is a telling one for SeaKeepers’ technology. Measuring pH adds over $1,000 to the manufacturing costs of a system and almost doubles the frequency of calibration. Originally, the scientific community felt there was little need for pH data. We were on the verge of removing it from new systems. A significant new study reveals dramatic increases in carbon dioxide dissolved within seawater, particularly in the Polar Regions. Increased CO2 is significant in terms of the global warming equation and leads to speculation that changing ocean acidity may negatively impact polar marine life and scientists have changed their views of the value of pH data. The SeaKeepers system is one of the few technologies that accurately measure ocean pH.